Stetson @ Georgia Tech preview
McCamish Pavilion
Georgia Tech will try to bounce back from a surprising loss in the season opener when it hosts Stetson on Friday in Atlanta.
The Yellow Jackets, who won the 2021 ACC Tournament, were beaten 72-69 by Miami of Ohio on Tuesday. Stetson defeated Florida Memorial, 74-67, in its opening game.
The all-time series is tied 1-1. Stetson won the last matchup in 1972-73.
"Look, we'll get better," Georgia Tech coach Josh Pastner said. "We're young. We lost the ACC Player of the Year (Moses Wright) and the ACC Defensive Player of the Year (Jose Alvarado) and those are two big pieces. We just need more time, more minutes to play together and we'll get better."
Stetson played well in front of a live audience in DeLand, Fla., something it hasn't done since pre-COVID-19.
"It's the first time we played in front of a crowd in a couple years," Stetson coach Donnie Jones said. "It's a little different than a scrimmage or practice. I think there's a lot of things we can improve on, but a win's a win. We'll learn from winning, and I think that's much better than learning from losing."
The Georgia Tech-Stetson game features a pair of good outside shooters in Tech's Michael Devoe and Stetson's Rob Perry.
Devoe, a preseason All-ACC selection, scored 26 points, including 4-of-6 from distance, in the season opener. He has a streak of 11 games with at least one 3-pointer. He has 21 career games with 20-plus points.
Perry, who led the team in scoring the last two seasons, scored 25 points in only 22 minutes Tuesday, making two 3-pointers and going 11-for-12 at the line. He was a two-time ASUN Player of the Week last season.
Georgia Tech's Rodney Howard is being counted on to fill some of the void left by Wright's departure. He posted his first career double-double, getting 10 points and 13 rebounds in 31 minutes against Miami.
--Field Level Media